Elevator sliding door.



H. P. WALKER.

ELEVATOR suomc 000R. APPLICATION FILED NOV- 7| I916- Paton July 1?, 1917.

' -2 sums-sun 1. W {a H. P. WALKER.

ELEVATOR SLIDING DOOR. APPLICATION FILED uov.7,191s.

. mm July 17, 1917 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

HARLAN P. WALKER, 0F IVIoDONALD, PENNSYLVANIA.

ELEVATOR SLIDING noon.

maaoeo.

Continuation of application Serial To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, HARLAN P. 'WALKER, a citizen of the United States, residing at McDonald, in the county of Washington and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain; new and useful Improvements in Elevator Sliding Doors; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and,

exact description of, the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains tomake and usethe same.

This is a continuationof my prior application Number 838,306, filedMay 13, 1914. The invention relates to sliding doors, which'are positioned within elevator shafts, and the primary object of the invention is theprovision of doors placed within the elevator shaft at each successive floor of the building in which the shaft is formed, which doorsnormally divide the shaft into a plu-. rality of compartments so as to prevent persons accidentally falling down the shaft, as well asnmaterially decreasing the spreading of fire or the like ina building, in which the draft usually occasioned within the elevator shaft would be eliminated by the pro- .vision of the sliding doors.

' Another object of this invention is the provision of doors slidable laterally within the elevator shaft, the movement of which doors is controlled by the elevator car travcling within the shaft, so that the doors may be'automatically opened or closed upon the approach or passage ofthe elevator car. With the foregoing and other objects in view, this invention consists in such novel features of construction, combination, and arrangements of parts aswill be hereinafter more fullydescribed, illustrated in the accompanying drawings, and. claimed.

In describing the invention in detail, reference will be had to the accompanying drawings, wherein like characters of references designate .likeor corresponding parts throughout the several views, and in which: a V

, Figure 1 represents a side elevation of the invention partly'broken away.

Fig. 2 is ,a bottom plan view'of the doors, and.-, c,

Fig. 3 is a cross sectional view on the line 33 pf Fig. 2.

specification of Letters Patent. g Jilly 1' 7,

838,306, filed May 13, 1914. This application filed November 7, 1916. Serial No. 129,940. a 1

Referring more particularly to the drawings, l designates respective floors of the building in which the elevator shaft 2 is located, which floors are provided with openings 3 formed thereinto passage of the elevator The elevator car 4 is dicular side bars 5 gagement with guides 5, which are positioned upon both sides ofthe shaft as is ordinary in the con-y struction of elevators of this type to guide it in its upward or downward movement. within the elevator shaft 2. Any suitable means for the propulsion of the elevator maybe employed,;this feature being in no carv therethrough. provided with perpenway associated with the invention herein claimed.

' The floors 1 ofthe building have guides 6 and 7 secured thereto, in which guides are slidably seatedthe doors 8 and 9, which doors are adapted to slide transversely within the elevator shaft 2 for forming an obstruction to the shaft, or dividing the shaft into compartments in proportion with the floors of the building. The doors 8 and 9 have rollers 10 mounted upon stub-shafts 11, which rollers engage the guides 6 and 7 and decrease the friction occasioned by the sliding of the :doors, providing means whereby the doors may be easily moved into or out of the elevator shaft. The doors 8 and 9 have links 12 and 13 pivotally. connected to their opposite ends, which levers are inturn pivotally connectedto levers '14 and 15 respectively. The levers 14 and 15. have their ends-opposite to the ones which arepivotally connected to the levers 12 and 13, pivotally connected at 16 to a supportingbar 17, which bar is attached in any suitable manner to the construction of the elevator shaft (not shown) A pair of stops 17] is secured on the supporting bar 17 and arranged'on opposite sides of each of the levers 14 and 15 for limiting the swinging movement of the latter in either direction. The bars 14 and 15 have stub-shafts 18 mounted therein, substantially equidistant from their ends, which stub-shafts extend inwardly toward the center of the elevator shaft and have rotatably mounted thereupon rollers 19, which rollers are adapted for pepermit of the which have slotted en-.' the vertically extending ripheral engagement with the lever actuating members 20,]carr1ed by the elevator car 4:.

The lever actuating members 20 are of U- shaped formation ,in'crosssection and are substantially frusto-triangular shaped, and

have their apexes positioned farthermostfrom'the top and bottom of the elevator car as-is clearly shown in Fig. 1 of thedrawmgs, while their sides taper outwa-dly as they extend toward the top-orlbottom of the car.

The lever actuating members 20 are positioned upon theextreme marginal edges of the sides of the elevator car, so that they willpass between the'ends of the doors- 8 and 9, upon movement of the elevator, and

engage the rollers 19, for forcing the levers 1 1 and joutward'ly as is clearly shown in shaft; The elevator'cardhas lever'actuating. membersfQOfl positioned upon both the top and bottom "of the car so as to operate the levers'either upon upw'ard or downward movementthe car within the elevator shaft.

A bar 21 is carried by the elevator shaft structure, and is positioned directly below the bar 17. The bar 21 has connected theretoithe 'ends'of the coil springs 22 and 23, which coil; springs are connected to the levers 14 and 15 respectively, and exert a tension or pull upon the bars 14 and 15. This tension tends to keep the bars 14L and 15' in their innermost position when the doors'8 are in closed position to prevent rebounding ofthe doors, and to keep the bars 1 1 and 15 in their; outermost position when the doors 8 are open, and to retain the doors 8' open until the elevator is passed, said springs also hold thelevers ineither position so that the rollers 19 will always be in the path of the lever actuating member 20 upon movement 'of the elevator in either dire'ction. g

In the operation of the improved safety doors as above described, upon the upward movement of theelevator card within the shaft, the lever actuating member 20 which is mounted uponthe'upper end of the car willen'gage the rollers 19, and force the levers outwardly as is indicated by the arrow a in the lowersection of Fig. 1 of'the dra wings,fand this will position the levers as is shown in the upper portion of Fig. 1 of the drawings, openingthe sliding doors S and 9, and permitting the elevator to pass ,therebetween. Upon downward movement of the elevator-car 4, the lever actuating linemb'ers 20 will pass through the space which isle'ft between the ends of the doors 8 and 9 and the walls of the elevator shaft, and will engage the rollers 19, which will force the levers outwardly and open the doors, so as to permit of the passage of the cars therethrough.

From the foregoing description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings, the advantages of the construction and of the method of operation of the improved elevator doors will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains and, while in the foregoing, the principle of the operation of the invention has been described, together with the various features of construction, it is to be understood that certain minor features of construction, combination and arrangement of parts may be altered to suit practical conditions, provided such alterations ,are comprehended within the scope of what is claimed.

What is claimed is 2- '1. The combination with an elevator car having a shaft therefor, 'li plurality of doors slidable transversely into said shaft, a'plurality of levers pivotally connected to said doors, and positioned for extending inwardly toward the center of the shaft and to one side'thereof, and rollers carried by said levers, lever actuating members carried by the elevator car for engaging said rollers for operating said levers for moving said doors outwardly upon the approach of the elevator car thereto, and inwardly upon the receding of the elevator car, and spring means for preventing the rebounding of the doors in either open or closed position.

"2. The combination with an elevator car having a shaft therefor, a plurality of doors slidable transversely into said shaft, a plurality of levers'pivotally connected to said doors and positioned for extending inwardly toward the center-of the shaft and to one sidethereof, and rollers carried by said levers, lever actuating members carried by the elevatorcar for engaging said rollers for operating said levers for movingsaid doors. outwardly upon the approach of the elevator car thereto, and inwardly upon the receding of the elevator car, and contractile springs secured to said levers and to the walls of the elevator shaft below said levers to prevent the rebounding of the doors in either opened or closed position.

3. The combination with an elevator car having a shaft therefor, a plurality of doors slidable transversely into said shaft, a link pivotally secured to the opposite ends of said doors adjacent each corner thereof, a lever pivotally secured to the side walls of the shaft and arranged below and adjacent to each one of the links, said levgrs having their free ends pivotally secured to the free ends 'of the links, rollers carried by said levers adjacent the central portion thereof,

lever actuating members carried by the ele- In testimony whereof I afiix my signature vator car for engaging said rollers for opin presence of two Witnesses. eratmg sald llIlkS and levers for movmg said doors outwardly upon the approach of HARLAN WVALKER 5 the car thereto and inwardly upon the re- Witnesses:

ceding of the elevator car, and means for A. V. CAMPBELL,

limiting the swing of the links and levers. R. E. ALLISON.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the "Commissio ner of Patentm Washington, D. G. 

